.H3 S7 I / /<JU>Lu^ 

Copy 1 / • ^- 

+_, ^ — » 

t * 

I ''Seventeen fears in HarrislioFjj" I 

I A I,OOK BACKWARD % 

% ^ I 

J- » 

+ [An address delivered before^ the Board of Trade of Harrisbure. * 
^ Pennsylvania, by E). J/ Stackpole, March 13th, 1900.] % 

t j^^^wJ'./-.! .*. 

I » 

Ff//ozf Members of the Board of Trade: 

Having accepted an invitation to address the Board 
of Trade in this series of talks arranged by your committee 
and having chosen as my subject "Seventeen Years in Har- 
i risburg — A Look Backward," I was overwhelmed with a 
flood of recollections. There are many things that 1 would like 
to refer to, but in such a talk it is not possible to dwell upon 
certain matters which under other circumstances and at 
another time it might be proper to discuss. It would be fitting, 
perhaps, to devote some time this evening to a few remini- 
scences of those makers of Harrisburg who have gone ahead 
a little while, but when one looks backward and reflects upon 
the large number of his friends who in the short period of 
seventeen years have crossed to the other side, it is not 
easy to mention any without fear of slighting the memory of 
one or more who were prominent in advancing the interests 
of the city. Active, unselfish, broad-minded men are the 
pillars of every community and their memories should be 
honored by those who come after them. Stately shafts of 
granite and enduring bronze are not more lasting as monu- 
ments of such men than the works which they have done. 
We all cherish the memories of those good men and women 
who did so much for Harrisburg and who have been called 
to their reward, and we can only hope that those who follow 
them will emulate their devotion to the welfare of their fellow- 
citizens. 

First impressions of cities and persons are hkely to be last- 
ing. Twenty-three years ago my father represented the coun- 
ty of Mififlin in the House of Representatives and it was then 
that I first visited Harrisburg. Recollections of that trip 
are vivid and you will pardon to-night a brief reference to 
some of the things which engaged my boyish attention. 
Somehow it was impressed upon me that all visitors before 
leaving the Capital City should first climb to the top of the 
stand-pipe at the wato ' works and after that look the city 

\ 



^ 



6:^5 



2 



\ ^ over from the dome of the Capitol. My time was hmilted 
^ and with youthful enthusiasm I made the ascent of the tower- 
ing column at the water works and having obtained the mag- 
nificent view of the city and its picturesque surroundings 
from that point hastily descended. Then without resting \I 
climbed to the old Capitol dome. Tramping to the top 
of these local observatories had about finished me and the, 
sightseeing during the balance of my stay was done in mod- 
eration and on the first floor. I haven't been at the top of 
the stand-pipe since, and as the flames licked the gold sheet- 
ing from the face of the old Capitol dome three years ago I 
watched the destruction and thought of my ascent of the an- 
cient pile on that first visit to Harirsburg. These were my 
first g"limpses of the city, but it was not until January, 1883, 
that I became a permanent resident and identified myself with 
the city which has since been my abiding place. 

It is almost impossible in such a talk as this to get away 
from the personal pronoun, inasmuch as a comparison of con- 
ditions as they existed seventeen years ago with conditions 
of to-day involves, necessarily, the personal views and 
comments of the speaker. It gives me pleasure, however, 
to review the progress and development of our city. As an 
adopted son I yield to no older inhabitant in admiration for £ 
all that is good and beautiful in Harrisburg. \ 

When I came here in 1883 it was my custom to take fre- 
quent strolls about the city and suburbs and in those walks 
I was constantly brought face to face with the fact of Harris- 
burg's unsurpassed situation and immense possibilities for 
commercial and industrial development. It is difficult 
to realize that within the short period of time covered by 
my residence here so many and so great changes have been 
wrought. Seventeen years ago the stranger entered Harris- 
burg through an antiquated structure knoAvn as the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad Station. It is impossible of description. 
Older citizens will remember the long, rambling brick build- 
ing which served as headquarters for the railroad officials, 
passenger waiting-rooms, restaurant, baggage-rooms, etc. 
They will also remember how it Avas impossible for a pas- 
senger to determine with any degree of accuracy whether his 
train was coming in on the right side of the station or on the 
left. While he "was wrestHng with this serious problem the 
luckless passenger was not infrequently left. Trains in those 
days had a habit of rushing in on the right side of the build- 
ing and leaving those passengers who were waiting on the 
other side without notice. It was a supremely dangerous 
place and to this day I wonder that more lives were not sacri- 
ficed at that point. ' Time came, however, when the railroad 
company realized that the old station must go for the good 
of the service. Then the present more or less modern struct- 



v 



ure was erected. It has always seemed a pity that those who 
were responsible for the plans of the new building were not 
able to give so important a point as Harrisburg better station 
facilities. We ought to be thankful, perhaps, for what we 
have; but we ought to have something a great deal better. 
Defects of the present Union Station are obvious, but it is not 
my purpose to do more than suggest that the city is deserving 
of greater consideration than has been shown by any of the 
railroad companies heretofore. 

But while the great Pennsylvania has not done all that 
this splendid corporation might do in reason for Harrisburg, 
the Reading has done infinitely less. Seventeen years ago 
the Reading passenger station was an old squat shed at 
Market street. It resembled a warehouse and the entrance 
thereto was across the dangerous maze of tracks which have 
since given to that part of Market street and to all the busi- 
ness interests of that section of the city a serious commer- 
cial set-back. Seventeen years ago, yet that station still 
stands a monument to the indifference of a great corporation 
to its own interests and to those of the city. Still I am glad 
to see an evidence of the awakening of the Reading Company 
to the importance of Harrisburg in the extension of its yards 
toward Rutherford Station. All the railroad companies are 
showing by their increasing facilities a disposition to accom- 
modate a community which is becoming too large a.nd too 
progressive to be longer ignored in the matter of freight fa- 
cilities or passenger accommodations. We will all hail the 
day when grade crossings shall be no more and when modern 
passenger stations and all the provisions for the comfort of 
the travehng pubHc, as well as facilities for the business 
community, shall be accorded Harrisburg. We are rapidly 
becoming a great railroad center and it is with pride that we 
refer the stranger to the manifold advantages of this city in 
the way oj transportation facilities. I ought not to leave this 
subject without remarking that the time is propitious for such 
co-operation by our municipal government as may be neces- 
sary to bring about the reforms and improvements with re- 
spect to our railroad companies which suggest themselves to 
the thoughtful citizen. 

Seventeen years ago we had the bob-tail horse cars on our 
streets and the echo of those tinkHng bells must even now 
resound in the ears of most of you who are present to-night. 
Those were wonderful cars. There was no conductor to col- 
lect the fares and to politely assist feeble passengers on and 
ofif the cars ; the passenger was expected to get on and off 
as best he could ; drop his nickel in the slot and be content 
with the situation. Of course, the super-sensitive passenger 
occasionally found fault with the driver who looked through 
the window and hard at the cash-box when the passenger ab- 



sent-mindedly forgot to drop his nickel therein ; but the driver 
in those days was not only expected to keep his car moving ; 
it was also his duty to see to it that the passenger deposited 
the fare in the box provided for that purpose. I shall never 
forget the first electric car that passed up Third street. \s 
it swept along, leaving a trail of dust behind, timid women 
and affrighted children rushed to their homes in terror, while 
men stood upon the sidewaiKs and in open-mouthed wonder 
watched the receding car as it sped on its way uptown. That 
Avas a rapid transition, and it may be proper for me to say that 
no one agency has contributed more to the advancement and 
development of Harrisburg than tlie electric railway. We 
have here a most complete system of city and suburban lines 
and the people of Harrisburg have 'long since ceased to r&gard 
the trolley car as a nuisance and a proper object of criticism. 
It has brought all the surrounding towns and villages into 
close connection with the city and our merchants and busi- 
ness men doubtless appreciate what the change from horse 
cars to those propelled by electricity meant for them. 

Reservoir Park and Paxtang, two of the fresh air resorts 
of the city, have been made accessible by the electric lines, but 
other breathing places ought to be established. Sometime 
ago a distinguished physician of this city offered to Harris- 
burg a large tract of wooded land on which is a spring of 
pure water without money and without price, yet, so far as I 
have been able to learn, no definite steps have been taken to 
accept his generous gift. There was some pow-wowing of 
a board of road viewers which came to naught, but the City 
Councils, as I am informed, have taken no such action as 
would seem to have been proper in view of such a munificent 
proposition. I refer to Dr. Eli H. Coover's offer to turn over 
to the city a large tract of land embracing many trees and 
a pure mountain stream. In my humble judgment there 
cannot be too many parks in Harrisburg or any other city. 
The time is coming when such tenders as that of Dr. Coover 
will be accepted with the gratitude of the entire municipality. 
In this age of forest destruction we can hardly realize what 
a park may mean in the future. With the exception of one 
which has been provided at the expense of the Common- 
wealth this city is practically without a park within the city 
limits. On our western boundary there is a wooded piece 
known to all of you as Hoffman's Woods, which ought to 
be secured for park purposes. It is situatea at the intersec- 
tion of Ridge Avenue and Park Lane and more than once 
during the last few years I have heard talk of the cutting 
down of th)e trees and selling the land for building pur- 
poses. I hope I may never see the day when those trees 
will be felled. Harrisburg could not do a better thing than 
purchase that tract of wooded land and allow the generations- 



yet to come to pay the debt. I wish to remark before pro- 
ceeding further that any thing said to-night which may seem 
harsh is not directed at individuals, but at classes and systems. . 

When I made my way up Market street seventeen years 
ago it was an unpaved thoroughfare. Gas lamps flickered 
here and there, old-fashioned stores hedged both sides of the 
street, and the hotels were not what they should have been. 
Market Square was occupied by the market sheds of fragrant 
memory and the curbstones were lined with farmers' wagons 
and other evidences of town life a century ago. There were 
also many trees along the street, which have since disap- 
peared. Few things in Harrisburg at that day were modern. 
Our people were apparently satisfied to go along in the same 
old way which was good enough for their fathers. We have 
some people — a few of them — who still think what was 
good enough for their fathers is good enough for them. We 
should be thankful that this class is gradually becoming ex- 
tinct. 

We can easily picture in imagination the Harrisburg of that 
period. It was a town which seemed to be thoroughly satis- 
fied with itself and the stranger who came here with any sug- 
gestions looking to a change of the existing order of things 
was regarded as an iconoclast whose room was more dei- 
sirable than his presence. There was a distinct air of chilli- 
ness in the so-called social atmosphere of the city, and a good 
deal of the old-family notion which, I am glad to say, is 
slowly dying out. Men and women seemed to be more inter- 
ested in unearthing their ancestry than in doing anything to 
promote the welfare of the town. There was on all sides 
an apathetic condition which endangered the very life of the 
place. Here and there a courageous spirit was doing his level 
best to get out of the rut, but he found it mighty hard work. 
He discovered that Harrisburg people didn't take kindly^ to 
strangers with peculiar notions as to. how things should be 
done. They gave the ambitious newcomer to understand by 
their actions, if not by their words, that they were perfectly 
content to continue in the "good old way" and to follow in the 
footsteps of their ancestors. Strange how some people love 
their ancestors — after they are dead. Henry Ward Beecher 
used to say that some people were like a potato — the best 
part of them under ground. 

But when old-fogyism seemed to have reached its height 
there flashed out of the gloom of th'e period a gleam of light 
which broadened until the whole city basked in the sunshine 
of a new era. Two years after my advent the city, at the 
instigation of a few energetic spirits, determined to celebrate 
the one hundredth anniversary of its birth. For one whole 
week Harrisburg gave itself up in an excess of joy to a cele- 
bration that was in every respect a magnificent success. Even 



the antiquarian exhibit served to teach those who had been 
drifting- along that after all there were some things that were 
better than in the times of their forefathers. During that 
week thousands of visitors thronged the streets of the city 
and people began to appreciate how much might be done to 
make Harrisburg a city in fact as well as in name. New 
life was infused into every avenue of trade. All classes of 
society manifested a keener interest in the resurrection of 
the city. Men who had not before shown any apparent inter- 
est in its affairs began to insist upon the paving of streets, 
the substitution of electricity for gas in street lighting, the 
improvement of our hotels and business houses, and a gen- 
eral rehabilitation of the city throughout. They observed how 
slow we had been and then and there determined that the 
second century should be one of progress and development 
in every way. I have always thought that two monuments 
should be erected in Harrisburg by a grateful and apprecia- 
tive people — one over the resting place of the founder of the 
city, and the other in Market Square, "In Memory of Sleepy 
Old Harrisburg. Died A. D. 1885." 

From that centennial celebration sprang a new and pro- 
gressive city. Resistance of the old pull-back element in 
our population became less effective. There was a gradual 
surrender of the forces of the non-progressives and the de- 
velopment of the cemmercial and business activities of the 
city was rapid. Since then the native Harrisburgers have 
touched elbows with those who, appreciating the advantages 
of our location, have come hither to help in the upbuilding 
and advancement of the city. No longer is the question asked 
as to whence comes this man or that man, but instead there 
is a disposition to extend the hand of welcome to all who 
come with the earnest purpose of joining forces with us in 
the advancement of our material and social well being. 

It is worth value in this presence to consider what has 
brought about the great change in Harrisburg. Manifestly 
the aroused spirit of the people has been responsible in larg^ • 
measure for the improved and improving tone of our busi- 
ness and social life. This spirit has forced the paving of the 
principal streets, the introduction of electric light and steam 
heat, the enlargement and modernizing of our business 
places, the increased cab service, the betterment of telegraph 
and telephone facilities and all the changes for the better 
which have followed in the wake of that centennial anniver- 
sary. Marvelous has been the development in many direc- 
tions and still more marvelous will be the development of 
the next few years. With the growth of the city and the 
rapid increase of its population purely local hindrances will 
be more easily overcome. There will be a stronger com- 



bative force and the enfeebled grip of the selfish barnacle will 
finally be loosed forever. 

The Great Architect of the universe has wrought won- 
drously in the hills and valleys which give to the landscape 
here so much of its charm. We who live and move and have 
pur being in this favored spot do not always appreciate what 
grandeur of scenery there is in the natural environment of 
the city we call our own. Strangers who have traveled far 
and wide ecstatically view the winding river and the hills and 
mountains round about us and wonder at our matter-of-fact 
acceptance of Nature's favors. But while the picturesque 
appeals to those who have a spark of poetry within them, it 
is the practical side of our situation which attracts the manu- 
facturer and business man. Few cities have such advan- 
tages and it must be exceedingly gratifying to the genuine 
citizen to see the growing appreciation of these advantages 
on the part of those who are looking about for suitable loca- 
tions for industrial and other enterprises. They see here 
solid banking institutions, a conservative business commun- 
ity, contented American labor, unsurpassed agricultural re- 
sources, handsome school buildings and stately churches, 
fijie markets and all that goes to make up the essential needs 
of a flourishing city. 

One need only stroll through that section of the city 
bounded by Market and Tenth Streets to see the wonderful 
transformation that has taken place during the comparatively 
short period covered by the residence of the speaker in Har- 
risburg. Great warehouses for the distributing agencies of 
the leading farm implement manufacturers of this country — 
several of them — box factories, carriage factories, mattress 
and casket factories, all springing up as in a night. Then 
cHmb the slope and see the new East Harrisburg, the city 
of Allison's 'Hill, where there has grown during the last sev- 
enteen years a bustling and active business community which 
will never stop its onward march until it has overtaken and 
absorbed Paxtang and Hummelstown and all the villages and 
hamlets intervening. Otit yonder are the big plants of the 
Harrisburg Boot and Shoe Company, employing hundreds 
of persons, the Harrisburg Boiler and Manvifacturing Com- 
pany, the Mt. Pleasant Printery, the parent branch of the 
Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works, and many other 
concerns wdiich are adding to the wealth of the city and giv- 
ing employment to thousands of our people. That overhead 
bridge at Mulberry Street, the artery connecting the city on 
the hill with the city proper, was not there in 1883. Its erec- 
tion was the direct outcome of the agitation of the people 
most interested and the newspapers, two forces which united 
are invincible. Would that they might get together more 
frequently. Too often the newspapers are left to fight alone 



8 

and when they fail through the desertion of those for whom 
they battle the first to point the finger of scorn are those who 
ought to have given most aid and encouragement. 

Looking now from the loftier buildings on the bluflf be- 
yond Paxton Creek to the westward the change is even 
greater. Miles upon miles of houses where seventeen years 
ago were fenced fields and vacant town lots. Going to and 
from my boarding-house in those days it w^as my custom to 
cut across the old reservoir ground at Sixth and North — now 
the site of the handsome High School building and many fine 
residences ; then an unsightly hump of earth, all that was 
left of the first reservoir basin. Where a few of us erected 
a toboggan slide at Third and Reily Streets are now hun- 
dreds of the most attractive of the city's homes. All the land 
from Reily to Maclay on the west side of Third Street was at 
that time practically vacant. To-day it is solidly built in 
modern blocks to a point beyond Kelker Street, and the 
builder ceaseth not. Away beyond Maclay Street and east of 
Third the city has made its way until there is no one with 
vision broad enough to see the limits of Greater Harrisburg. 

Permit me to observe right here that the person who talks 
well of every city save his own is being elbowed out of the 
procession. .There is no room for him. He belongs to the 
croaker class — first cousin to the clam. Instead of putting 
his shoulder to the wheel and helping along in the progress of 
the city he sits on the fence, makes faces at the passing 
throng and growls because the hustlers are kicking up a dust 
as they push on toward the goal of a still greater city. lYet 
this croaker is the representative of a class which is best de- 
scribed in the story of "Betty and the Bear," which was my 
star recitation in the school-boy days. Most of you have 
heard it and I will stop only long enough to recall its point. 
A certain pioneer, who was noted for his presence of mind — 
on the theory that presence of mind is absence of body — 
heard a bear in the kitchen on one occasion, and screaming 
to his sleeping frow told her of his discovery. She called to 
him to murder the brute, whereupon he bravely assured her 
that he would, if she would first venture in. Betty then 
jumped from her downy couch and grabbing a poker entered 
the kitchen, her husband quickly closing the door and leav- 
ing her to settle the controversy with bruin alone, now and 
then volunteering advice through the key-hole. At last Betty 
laid the bear out and her courageous spouse lost no time 
rushing into the street and telling the neighbors how he and 
Betty had killed the bear. So it is with the croaker. He 
makes dismal predictions about the fate of every local enter- 
prise, but is the first to take credit for the success which is 
achieved in spite of him. 

Having been warned against indulging in too much praise 



9 

of our city I only want to say that it is better to err on that 
side than on the side of the fault-finder. It makes one feel 
better to utter a pleasant word than to look sour and growl. 
Sometimes, however, it is well to listen to the admonition 
of a friend. There are things which should be improved. We 
all realize that our city has faults: that there are matters 
wdiich demand the attention not only of this Board, but of 
every good citizen. We know, for instance, that our water 
supply is not what it ought to be, and yet we sit around like 
bumps on a log and wonder whether mud or culm is more 
injurious to our internal machinery. We have seen the grow- 
ing contamination of the river for years and we have listened 
to the wise men who have told us that three parts of culm 
and one of mud is pure water. We didn't believe them, of 
course, but we sat still. Occasionally our hopes have been 
kindled by a proposition looking to permanent improvement 
only to flicker and fade away. Now we are faced with serious 
conditions. Physicians tell us that there is more typhoid ma- 
laria, more typhoid fever in Harrisburg now than ever before 
and they clo not hesitate to admit that the water has much to 
do with it. We have a source of supply in the river that is 
inexhaustible and it is our duty as men and citizens to see 
to it that a filtration plant is established without delay. Don't 
let us procrastinate. Don't let us stand about and whittle 
and chew words and listen to windy theories, but let us re- 
solve as an organization of live business and professional men 
to abate this nuisance at once. Let us not be halted by the 
cry of municipal poverty which does not exist, but with cour- 
age and determination demand pure water and plenty of it 
for every man, woman and child in the city. We must not be 
unmindful of the important fact that strangers seeking busi- 
ness investment here will first inquire as to the health of the 
place. We have a healthful city; let us so maintain it. I don't 
pretend to know which system of filtration is best for us, but 
other towns and cities have solved the problem and we must. 
We who have children cannot patiently listen to the clam and 
croaker discussing the cost. Councils will act with us and 
this very night we should take the initiative. There are men 
of courage and energy and public spirit in Harrisburg in 
these_ closing days of the Nineteenth Century and they need 
only have their attention called to the situation which con- 
fronts us to force a prompt and practical solution of the 
problem. 

Another matter worthy the consideration of our citizens 
is the unwieldy system of collecting taxes now prevailing in 
Harrisburg and other cities of the third class. Legislation 
will be necessary to remedy this evil, but the agitation must 
start with the people. iWhen a city attains the size and im- 
portance of Harrisburg it should have a receiver of taxes and 



lO 

the day must come when the collection of taxes will be left to 
a single responsible official and not to a dozen or more. 
Present methods are lax and out of joint with every proper 
conception of business principles. 

One other thing. iWe must awake here to the importance 
of inducing manufacturers and others to locate in Harris- 
burg. There is not sufficient interest in our municipal de- 
partments in those things which are of direct and lasting 
benefit to all the people. Recently a large manufacturing 
concern, which would have given employment to i,ooo men, 
passed Harrisburg by — after sending a representative here 
to look over the field — because there was not sufficient en- 
terprise shown in the paving and cleaning of the streets and 
in other matters relating to the legislative and administrative 
departments of the city. This company was impressed 
favorably with the location and certain other advantages 
which appealed to their representative, but the dirty streets 
and the lack of interest of certain departments of our city 
government in the general welfare of the city led him to 
make an unfavorable report. 

Pittsburg secured that plant and others are said to have 
been lost to Harrisburg in the same way. I have always 
thought that with the superb credit of the city, and in view 
of our comparatively low taxation, it would be a wise thing 
for the present generation to issue bonds to the extent of 
$1,000,000, if necessary, payable in twenty years, for paving 
the streets, erecting a city hall, and making such other im- 
provements as wovild place the city on a level with all others 
of the same size and importance. In my judgment, a low 
tax rate, where such a rate involves disregard of municipal 
progress, is not the best recommendation for any city. In 
this connection it may be well to say that there is also an 
unfortunate disposition on the part of large real estate hold- 
ers to place a prohibitive price on their land as soon as they 
suspect jt may be wanted for manufacturing purposes. Such 
land-owners are doing all in their power — innocently perhaps 
— to retard the growth and development of the city. 

It isn't pleasant to point out defects, but let us go a little 
further in this friendly self-examination of municipal needs. 
Let us pause to consider the demands of Harrisburg with 
respect to its imrivaled water front. Time was when the 
ribbon of green along Front Street was not so wide as now 
and when the trees were fewer and farther between; when 
the gentle slope was decorated with tin-cans, brush heaps 
and refuse indescribable, and when the sewers vomited their 
stench at the brink of the river. There has been some im- 
provement, but there is room for much more. The time will 
come when the residents of Front Street will get over the 
idea that a kind Providence intended that the river front 



II 



should always remain that way. They will awake to the sit- 
uation and demand in the name of all the people that this 
picturesque fringe of the majestic Susquehanna shall be made 
a famous boulevard, stretching from one end of the city 
t"© the other. May we not contemplate in our dreams of 
the future a beautiful terrace sloping, gently to a wide sup- 
porting wall and furnishing a grand promenade along the 
entire city front. Such an improvement may be criticized 
as a purely aesthetic idea, but in my humble judgment it 
would do more to bring Harrisburg to the favorable attention 
of the world than any other single proposition, lit need not 
be done all at once, but in sections, just as many other im- 
provements have been accomphshed. A fresn air promenade 
such as this would be an everlasting benefit to all the peo- 
ple and would make Harrisburg famous throughout the coun- 
try. 

Let me further remark that the investment of money at 
home is quite as likely to bring profitable returns as the 
get-rich-quick planting of your financial seed elsewhere. 
Many of you have experimented in the dazzling real estate 
enterprises of distant cities and you are still paying taxes on 
the investment, with an occasional assessment for alleged 
street improvements. Others have turned Napoleons of 
finance for a short time and have emerged from the market- 
place shorn. Still others have placed their cash in manu- 
facturing concerns elsewhere and are waiting patiently for 
the dividends that never come. Meanwhile they have seen 
Harrisburg enterprises grow and flourish and have wondered 
why they Avere so foolish as to turn their backs on the home 
industry to help along the doubtful enterprise of a place in 
which they have no interest whatever. We have all been 
told many a time of the need of additional capital to make 
promising business ventures in Harrisburg still more suc- 
cessful, but the men who put in their money and back it with 
their pluck have been compelled to go ahead in a crippled 
condition, sometimes for years, until wide-awake foreign 
capital has come to their relief. We ought to have more 
diversified industries and the men who make their money 
here ought to be given to understand in the most unmistak- 
able manner that they owe this community something for 
their success ; that they must not, like the leech, take every- 
thing and give nothing. They should be made to feel that it 
is disgraceful — not to die rich, as Mr. Carnegie contends — 
but to die with a record standing against them of never hav- 
ing invested one dollar in a Harrisburg enterprise. We must 
stand together, and those who refuse must stand aside and 
be made to feel that they have been weighed in the balance 
and found wanting. 

These things I have pointed out not in any spirit of criti- 



12 



cism, nor in any assumption of superior wisdom, but merely 
in a suggestive way to illustrate what might be done to en- 
hance the beauty of our natural situation and make more at- 
tractive the city and its environments. Since 1883 this Board 
of Trade has come into existence and has done much for 
Harrisburg. So also has the Harrisburg Club, where we 
may meet in a social way and get from the atmosphere of a 
broadened fellowship more helpful views of a business life ; 
and this thought of the social side of business and social life, 
as it finds expression in such a club, suggests another thought 
and one which it may be well to dwell upon in this connec- 
tion. I refer to the official life on Capitol Hill, with which 
we are daily brought in contact. There was a time when 
one heard much of criticism in Harrisburg of the officials and 
clerks of the various State departments, which criticism ex- 
tended to the members of the Senate and House. These men 
were regarded as ever^-thing that is venal and corrupt. They 
were almost shunned and were made to feel that they had 
no* place in the hearts of Harrisburg people, much less in 
their homes. Since the removal of the old iron fence which 
surrounded Capitol Park criticism of the men whose duties 
were performed inside the fence has almost wholly ceased. 
It may have been the favdt of the fence, but whatever the 
cause it is a satisfaction to note that indiscriminate abuse 
of lawmakers and State officials is now seldom heard in the 
streets of this city. These men are no better and no worse 
than the average of mankind the world over. As a matter 
of fact, it would be difficult to get together from the four 
corners of the State a more reputable and self-respecting 
group of men than those who are now attending to the Com- 
monwealth's business at the Capitol. 

It will be a glad day for the citizens of Harirsburg and the 
country at large when those who have the right of suffrage 
get sufficiently interested in politics of the right kind to as- 
sist in the nomination as well as the election of men of the 
right sort to public office. It comes with bad grace from 
those who remain away from the naming meetings and the 
primaries to sneer at and criticize the candidates who seek 
their support. Until men awaken to the importance of tak- 
ing part in politics from start to finish in the exercise of their 
high privilege of citizenship they must not look for the 
millenium of reform. The people of Harrisburg have it en- 
tirely within their own hands to send to Councils and to the 
School Board, and to every municipal body representatives 
who will do their bidding, iDut unless they see to it that the 
candidates are chosen in the right way they must not expect 
that perfection of local government which comes from the 
hearty co-operation of all good citizens. 

My first thought when considering what I might say to- 



I^ 



night that would be interesting was that a comparison of the 
business of commercial and industrial establishments for the 
years 1883 and 1899 would be appropriate; but the more 1 
looked into the matter the stronger became the conviction 
that statistics, however eloquent in themselves, would prove 
tiresome. So I determined to simply refer to a few exam- 
ples of the development of the last seventeen years which 
will sufficiently illustrate our progress. First of all, let us 
glance at the Pennsylvania Steel works. iWhile not within 
the city limits it is to all intents and purposes a Harrisburg 
industrial plant employing thousands of our people. There 
were on the rolls of this company on the first of January this 
year 6,600 men, whereas the number in 1883 probably did 
not exceed 2,500. It was about that year that the company 
began extensive improvements. Prior to 1883 the only mills 
in operation were the blooming and rail mills; the present 
Bessemer plant was started in 1883 and there were then two 
small open-hearth furnaces. To-day the great plant em- 
braces instead of two open hearth furnaces, fourteen; a 
second blooming mill, a large slab mill, merchant and billet 
mills, bridge and construction and other important depart- 
ments, with ajlmost a hundred acres of land recently purchased 
for still further extensions of the plant. The value of the 
product turned out to-day, notwithstanding the fact that 
prices are very much lower than in 1883, is probably three 
times as great. At the Central Iron and Steel Company's 
large plant, where the ever hopeful and energetic chairman 
of our Committee on Manufactures is the general manager, 
the change has been marvelous. In 1883 this company made 
about 10,000 tons of plates; last year the output was 
about 120,000 tons ; seventeen years ago the number of men 
employed was about 150; last year about 700. Meanwhile 
there has been built a large universal mill and other depart- 
ments have been enlarged, beside the addition to the plant of 
the Paxton mills, all now included in the Central . Iron -and 
Steel Company, having a total capacity of 150,000 tons. In 
the years covered by this comparison new machinery and ap- 
pliances have been introduced and the increase in every de- 
partment has been astounding. The Harrisburg Pipe Bend- 
ing Works, recently enlarged and with a new pipe mill soon 
ready for operation; employing 10 men in 1891, disbursing 
$3,400 in wages and doing a business of $24,000, now a hun- 
dred workmen, over $36,000 in wages and doing a business of 
$250,000; the Lalance & Grosjean Manufacturing Companv, 
the direct evidence of the good work of the Board of Trade ; 
the Harrisburg Foundry and Machine Works, with two 
plants in active operation, one of them a perfect modern 
workshop ; the Harrisburg RolHng Mill Company, and other 
iron and steel plants have either been established or largely 
increased since 1883. But it is not only in this important 



14 

feature of our industrial activity that remarkable develop- 
ment has been shown. When I came to Harrisburg the build- 
hio-s at Second and North Streets were vacant memories of 
an^abandoned cotton industry ; to-day they are fairly teeming 
with life and energv. They are now, with important addi- 
tions, the home of the silk mills brought to Harrisburg 
through the eflforts of this Board. Started in 1887 the mills 
emploved at the close of the first year about 150 hands; to- 
day there are on the pay-rolls nearly 600 hands— 75 men 
and bovs and the remainder girls. Last year the output was 
1.200,000 vards of broad or dress silks, and 2,400,000 yards of 
silk ribbons. Yet there are a few croakers who say that the 
Board of Trade is more ornamental than useful. Had I time 
it might be well to speak of the large, cigar manufacturing 
companv on Race Street, two typewriter factories, the new 
match factorv in course of erection, the specialty cereal mill 
on North Seventh Street, and many more recently establish- 
ed industries. 

But that is not all. Our newspapers have increased m size 
and influence and the job printing facilities of the city have 
spread beyond even the knowledge of those immediately 
interested in the printing business. An instance of this is the 
Mt. Pleasant Printery on Allison's Hill. It wasn't there in 
1883, but to-day it gives employment to upwards of 100 peo- 
ple and distributes in wages nearly $900 a week. For 1899 
the business approximated $75,000, and the average number 
of employes throughout the year was 80. Of the total vol- 
ume of business at this printing house less than 10 per cent, 
came from Harrisburg; in fact, the business from this city 
was not much greater than that obtained from South Africa. 
At this establishment there is now in hand a cyclopedia of 
American Horticulture upon which over $30,000 is being ex- 
pended. Witman Schwarz and Co., wholesale grocers, be- 
gan business here in 1886 in a small room on South Second 
Street with a force of eight persons and one delivery wagon. 
To-day there are 25 persons in the Harrisburg establishment 
and II in branches at Lewistown and Carlisle. This firm 
within a year or two has occupied a fine building on Walnut 
Street admirably equipped for the increasing business of the 
house. Eight years ago the site of the Dill Carriage and 
Cycle Works at the east end of Mulberry Street bridge was 
a berry patch, now a successful factory is in steady operation 
there. 

Two years ago the Harrisburg Knitting mill was establish- 
ed in the western part of the city and now employs about 
45 persons. Last year the company shipped to all parts of 
the United States 46,594 dozen pairs of mens' half-hose. The 
Harrisburg Boot and Shoe Manufacturing Co., employing 
over 700 persons and turning out millions of pairs of shoes 



15 

annually; the Capital City Shoe Company and the Bay Shoe 
Company, all giving employment to large numbers of people 
and paying out weekly thousands of dollars in wages. So 
I might go on through the list of the city's industries. There 
is the Harrisburg Burial Case Co., with 25 people and $15,000 
in wages in 1883, now 65 employes who were paid $37,000 in 
wages last year ; the mattress factory of the Boll Bros. Manu- 
facturing Co., with a small army of employes ; the D. Bacon 
Company, wholesale confectioners, where less than a dozen 
persons were employed a few years ago, and now almost 
100 with a weekly pay roll of $425, and where there is used 
an average of 200 barrels of sugar per month, as against 40 
barrels ten years ago, and other raw materials in propor- 
tion; the Paxton and Steelton Flouring Mills Co., using 2,- 
000,000 bushels of wheat per year and the money value of the 
product approximating $2,500,000 with the labor of 150 men; 
the Blough Manufacturing Co., having increased the capacity 
of their plant four times in as many years and now supplying 
sun-bonnets for the women of the world; the Oliver Chilled- 
Plow Works, handling through the Harrisburg branch in 
1883 ninety ten-ton cars and last year 140 twelve-ton cars; 
and the great department store of Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart, 
which was established before my advent in Harrisburg, but 
which "has developed to its present proportions since that 
time. The handsome five-story building on Market street, 
the present home of the prosperous house, is a great contrast 
to the small establishment where the firm began business in 
1878 in the Opera House block, then employing about twen- 
ty clerks. In 1881 the growing business made it necessary 
to seek larger quarters in the old Wallower building on Mar- 
ket Street. Mr. Stewart, the junior member of the firm, died 
ill 1885 and was succeeded by Mr. William H. Bennethum, 
the present manager. Then came the new building which 
was occupied in 1887 and has been so enlarged as to include 
practically the entire end of the block. It is understood that 
the enterprising firm contemplates still further important 
changes.' During these years of prosperity the number of 
employes has been increased and hundreds are now on the 
pay roll. We ought also to mention the great credit house 
of Burns and Co., the home furnishers and leaders in Harris- 
burg of a successful credit system ; the large and handsome de- 
partment store of E. V. EinsteTh and Co. on Market Street; 
Bowman and Co., a great store ; Astrich, and many other 
establishments, every one showing the impulse of better things 
for Harrisburg. So, too, with the stores and shops. One 
touch has made them all kin in spirit and enterprise. There 
is greater liberality in business competition and men are no 
longer mortal enemies because they happen to be engaged 
in the same business. Young men have come to the front 




i6 

014 365 115 

and many of our leading industrial and mercantile establish- 
ments are managed by. them. It's a good sign and means 
much for our future as a city. 

It occurs to me in closing this fragmentary talk that there 
is one other thing that ought to be mentioned as further 
demonstrating our progress during the last seventeen years. 
I refer to the system of education. When I came to Harris- 
burg there were two high schools — one for the boys and 
another for the girls — and it is not so long ago that you can- 
not recall the storm that was created by the suggestion of co- 
education in the High School. But co-education came and 
who is there to-day who would return to the old system. A 
school ought to be hke a home, where the boys and girls 
see much of each other and where the refining influence of the 
sister is observed in the character of the brother. There 
is no good reason to be advanced for separating the girls and 
boys of the same age and attainments. <Tliere has been a 
long stride forward also in the character of the school build- 
ings as in the character of our residences. May we not hope 
that the school authorities will now give the same considera- 
tion to the health of the children as they give to their studies 
so that there may be no cramming and the girls and boys may 
develop physically as well as mentally. 

A word as to local pride and I am done. A few years ago 
it was my privilege to travel over the Northern Pacific Rail- 
road to the Puget Sound country and as I visited in succes- 
sion the bustling cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis and 
Helena and Spokane and Tacoma and Seattle, I was deeply 
impressed with the splendid loyalty of the people in each of 
those cities. There was no carping there. All were bub- 
bling over with enthusiasm and with prophetic vision saw 
clearly the future greatness of their city. It is intense local 
pride, never-yielcHng loyalty and cheerful readiness to do 
anything and everything that is legitimate and honorable to 
help along the city that brings the success which all good 
citizens want to see. Let us look to the future ; let the dead 
past serve only as a school of experience. May we not profit 
by the mistakes of those who have gone before and try 
honestly to avoid the things which impede the growth of the 
city and retard in any degree the onward swing of our de- 
velopment. Let us lay wide and deepT:he foundations of a 
still greater city for our children and our children's children 
to the end that it may at least be said of us when we shall dro p 
out of the ranks — not that we were croakers or clams, or stiff- 
necked opponents of everything that tended to promote the 
welfare of all the people of Harrisburg, but rather that we 
did what we could. 




\ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




014 365 115 



